Major Richard Winters CMOH Petition(Band of Brothers)

P

poulter

New Member
I should like to advise all members on this forum that there is an on-line petition to put pressure on the US Government to upgrade the DSC to the Medal of Honour for the above officer.

For those of you not familiar with Major Winters, he was the Officer Commanding Easy Company, 506 PIR 101st Airborne on D-Day 6th June 1944. They have been made famous by the Stephen Ambrose Book and HBO mini Series "Band of Brothers"

The action at Brecourt Manor in Normandy invovled the capture and distruction of 4 German 105 Field Guns, protected by 50 Elite German Paratroopers and MG42's. Major Winters assembled a SQUAD of 13 men.
He lead the assault on 3 of the guns personally. They killed 12, took 15 prisioner, and routed the rest.

This campaign has been started by his men, and I would ask all members here that agree with us to sign the petition at
http://www.Petitiononline.com/Winters/petition.html

Barry Poulter, administrator
www.majordickwinters.com
 
AussieNick said:
What is the criteria for being awarded a MOH, is it in effect the same as the Victoria cross?
Click to expand...

Excerpt:

a. The Medal of Honor [Army], section 3741, title 10, United States Code (10 USC 3741), was established by Joint Resolution of Congress, 12 July 1862 (amended by acts 9 July 1918 and 25 July 1963).

b. The Medal of Honor is awarded by the President in the name of Congress to a person who, while a member of the Army, distinguishes himself or herself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. The deed performed must have been one of personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his comrades and must have involved risk of life. Incontestable proof of the performance of the service will be exacted and each recommendation for the award of this decoration will be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit.

From chapter 3-6, Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) dated 25 February 1995
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I did forget to say that the Major was original recommended for the medal of Honour, however, the Commanding General, Maxwell Taylor had decreed prior to the battle, that the 101st would only take 1 MOH, and this went to a Col that lead a bayonet charge.
 
i am not U.S citizen so i dont have a right to sign it,

but i think Winters is a great man,

pity that he didn't stay in the army, otherwise, he would have been a great general something
 
Actually a lot of good men lose out on the road to generalship.
Maj. Winters came back to train troops headed to the Korean War.
But he did his bit and decided to leave it at that. That's smart of him really. From what I hear, life in the military as a senior officer is very different during peacetime compared to wartime.
From what I've read and watched about him, I don't think he's the type that would have been interested in all the bureaucratic battles that take place as a peacetime officer. Especially from the miniseries Band of Brothers, if it is accurate in this way, Maj. Winters became more and more uncomfortable as his duties got further away from the line. I think that's probably what really convinced him that peacetime military just wasn't going to be his thing (assuming the film is correct).
 
Major Winters

He genuinely cared about his mens welfare.
Planned all his tactics to save lives where possible.
What a great officer for his time.
 
I am not an American citizen and surely can not cast my vote, but from what I see in the Band of Brothers, I will give my greatest salute to the war hero. He is a master tactician, a great leader, someone who we can look up to, and his character inspires me to collect WWII 1/6 figures. BTW are there any other books that I can make any references on Ez Company...
 
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